During May every year, Liverpool sign a fresh set of players for their youth squads. The teams can vary from under 7 to U12 and so on. This year, Liverpool also welcomed new trainees to their youth ranks and one of them is already making waves on social media.
In a video posted on Liverpool’s YouTube channel, Luis Diaz, Kostas Tsimikas and Wataru Endo were seen joining the young trainees for a session. The training was presented by Orion Innovation, a digital transformation company that became a partner of the club in December 2023.
Kostas Tsimikas is seen giving tips to a youngster before competing in a crossbar challenge, while Luis Diaz went up for some practice to the goalkeepers. And this is where the unthinkable happened.
All the Liverpool winger’s shots were saved in spectacular fashion, one after another. Yes, by a 9-year-old. The keeper in question, named Ollie and his acrobatics soon went viral and keen-eyed observers found some anomalies in it.
‘It’s edited. The way the ball floats and accelerates is not natural at all,’ one user on Reddit pointed out. Another one added, ‘I think I hear the sound before the ball hits the kids hands at a very points as well.’
An anonymous third user even commented, ‘I’m a father of a 11-year old who’s playing in goal. Yes, we are playing low-level, and there are some quite talented players out there, but mark my words: not a single 9-year-old is saving anything playing in a fully-sized goal, especially not with an adult kicking the ball and meaning to score. This video is cringingly bad.’
On closer examination, the ball does look to accelerate questionably. Another key piece of indication of a possibly altered video is the age of the keeper himself. At 9, human anatomy does not develop as much to make those acrobatic moves unless little Ollie has some prior experience in gymnastics to achieve such nimbleness.
All the footage from the camp organised by Liverpool was filmed by Orion Innovation. Their primary task is to expand their reach on digital platforms, and such viral videos are exactly what one would need to do so.
Some fans even humorously speculated that the video was fake because Luis Diaz was seen hitting all the shots on target. This is another major cause of doubt over the authenticity of the video.
No, not the part where Diaz is hitting the targets, but the probable effect of the footage, if it was real. Think for a moment. Luis Diaz is currently linked to a move away from the club. So, from the club’s point of view, it does not make any sense to put out content where your player is unable to beat a 9-year-old.
If that actually happened during the training camp, the club would probably have binned it for good. However since there is a possible alteration involved in the video for digital marketing purposes, it will not impact Diaz’s reputation. But if the video is true, then boy don’t Liverpool have a gem in their hands.